And Terbio Was His Name (Oneshot)
by Vampire Tails
Summary: Part Two of Alternate TKO. TKO faces a mild identity crisis.


**A/N: **HI! I'm back with another OK KO story! this falls under the Alternate TKO threeshot I had done a while back. So, sit back, relax, and enjoy the show!

* * *

**Alternate TKO Series  
And Terbio Was His Name  
Oneshot**

It had been a few long weeks since Kaio sacrificed his host status to TKO. Abandoned were the white undershirt and pink legwarmers. He wore a black shirt and light blue pants now. But he barely broke a sweat when it came to fighting monsters or Boxbots. Those were the moments he enjoyed most.

As he slunk into bed that evening, after having beaten the snot out of his punching bag but leaving it intact, he began to think. He'd been doing pretty good, what with these outlets, at living. His mindscape had become a little brighter, and he grew excited. But Kaio was still nowhere to be found. It was like he vanished into the nether that was his mind. But wait… didn't he have a subconscious?

He slung off his Bodega vest, not truly caring where it ended up, and got into a meditative pose. Trying to think that he was in his mindscape once more. And there TKO was, floating in the lighter purplish backgrounds and partly cloudy skies. Even the formerly black rivers were just a bit lighter. He smiled at this, and roamed his mind, humming a little tune. He looked at an inconspicuous corner, and focused even more, trying to bring up an elevator.

Perhaps his other half was in the subconscious. At least, that's what he hoped. Soon, the elevator popped in, golden and bringing hope. TKO stared at it, and rushed for it, dimly purple eyes wide. It opened at his whim, and he pounced inside, panting. "Please be here, Kaio…"

It closed its doors and down it slowly went, almost too slowly for his tastes, but he knew better than to rush things now. He'd gotten in some trouble last time he tried. So he leaned against the wall, crossed his arms, and waited.

Those few minutes felt like an eternity, but he finally arrived in the gloomy subconscious, where red lines pulsated through the black clouds above. The wild-haired boy looked out, careful not to fall even though he could easily float back up. He wasn't going to chance being trapped in his own mind, though.

TKO soon saw a glitch near the ground, and his eyes widened. He wanted to take a closer look, but…

Some red formed within it, similar to the red above, but this one had feeling. He couldn't tell whether he was imagining it or not. But it looked like Kaio.

"_TKO…_" a child's voice, _Kaio's voice_, boomed through the area. "_I made my decision a long time ago. Stop looking for me._"

"B..bu-" he couldn't get a word out he was so shocked, backing into the elevator.

"_I know that you're me, and I'm you, but you deserve to live. You deserve a name for yourself._"

TKO's eyes welled up, and the purple in them intensified. "I…" he was clearly touched.

"_Go. Become your own person. Name yourself._"

And the elevator's doors closed and began bringing him back to the forefront of his mind, to his conscious. To his mindscape. He scrambled for the doors, banging on them. He was starting to cry. "No! no, Kaio! I can't leave you here!"

There was no response.

He slowly slumped to his knees, his forehead and arms limp against the doors. "No…"

That's when the doors opened, and he rolled unceremoniously out onto the grass. TKO soon groaned and punched the ground with a growl. He needed to accept this. But his name was _T_KO, born from _Kaio's_ anger and other negativities.

How could he ever be his own person?

* * *

Carol announced that dinner was ready, her voice ringing through the house like an alarm clock. And it was just as well, as it brought TKO back from his mindscape. He gasped, eyes opening, and wiped away the tears. Nobody saw that. Right?

He hoped no one did.

The young boy took deep breaths, and jumped off the bed, finding his vest on the foot of his bed. Either it was flung there or his mom picked it off the floor and neatly folded it. He smiled, placing a hand on his vest for a moment before he exited his room, instantly smelling the scent of spaghetti, his favorite.

TKO greeted his mom as he sat at the table, but said no more, eating his meal with fervor. The blonde smiled, happy he was enjoying it, and ate her own too, both spooling their spaghetti onto their forks.

"So.. anythin' new in the mindscape, Peanut?" his mom asked, scratching her head carefully with her free hand.

TKO bit his lip. "It's a little lighter than usual." He couldn't tell her he heard her real son. That would break her, he knew that, and he'd prefer not to be the source of pain.

"That's good news!" Carol nodded, and took a deep breath after swallowing a spool of spaghetti. "You feelin' any different?"

And she was careful not to ask about Kaio. She accepted TKO after all. Or, rather, grew to accept him. It wasn't easy. It wasn't easy for either of them, but they'd found some middle ground.

"Yeah," he smiled slightly, chewing some more at his almost finished meal, and the woman beamed at the smile. "I feel.. lighter.. happier. But.."

He frowned just then, and Carol stopped smiling too, growing worried. "But..?"

"_You deserve a name for yourself."_

"_Become your own person."_

"I'm not my own person," he finished, and began to shake, his hands curling into fists. Carol's eyes widened. "All I am is a byproduct of your son's anger. I'm.. not a person."

"Oh, sweetie… of course you're a person. You're.. you!" she booped his nose, and surprisingly TKO had no reaction to that. He was listening more than feeling at the moment, staring at her like a deer in headlights. Carol continued, "I think I know what the problem is. You named yourself after him. You need a different name."

"A different name…" he blinked, and then looked down at his food. He took the last spool of spaghetti and finished it in one slurp. He then grinned, "Thanks, mom!"

"Of course, Peanut."

He then swung out of his seat and rushed back to his room, and Carol, just remembering, pulled out the jar of cookies, "Wait! don't forget your cookies!"

He rushed right back, scrambling over to grab the whole jar, and she didn't argue as he took them back with him. He'd need a whole lotta cookies if he was going to think of a name for himself.

* * *

Notepad and pen equipped, TKO, sprawled on the floor, poured himself over it, writing and discarding name after name. He took a cookie out of the jar and chomped down on it as he wrote, eyebrow raised the whole time. What name was good for him?

So far, he discarded Turbino, Teeks, Spike, Tikes, and some other names. They either didn't fit him, were way too feminine, too vague, or were already taken for some reason unknown to him. He downed another cookie, furrowing his brow. He sighed and scratched his head too. Even just the letter "T" wasn't a good one.

He needed something more…

And then he wrote down one last name.

Terbio.

It rang to him immediately. He grinned a toothy grin.

* * *

Rad and Enid were facing off yet another Darrell and Shannon the morning after, but were implemented with some equipment from Professor Venomous and were much bigger than usual.

Rad dodged a heavy blow just barely, panting. "Where's TKO when ya need him?!" he nearly cried due to the pain he was in, clutching at his arm.

Enid poofed into a log to get away from an attack, yelling out, "Tell me about it!"

"HANG ON, GUYS!" a gruff voice echoed from somewhere, and Darrell and Shannon froze with seemingly fear. They both knew what happened last time. "I'M _COMIN'_!" the voice turned into a fierce, anticipatory growl.

"Oh no…" the red and orange bots exchanged glances, before they were then eradicated by purple waves. Smoke billowed upwards, and it soon faded to reveal the boy with wild, lengthy hair, smiling as it covered his eyes.

He flipped his hair back skillfully, and Rad and Enid let loose shouts of delight as they approached. "TKO! you saved us!"

The kid held a finger up, shaking his head, but still smiled. The blue alien and winja were confused, furrowing their brow. Was "TKO" not acceptable now?

What he said next confirmed it.

"Nah. Not TKO," the boy looked up at them. "It's Terbio now."

Both of them looked so proud just then, and relieved in some fashion, and patted the boy on the back before heading back into the Bodega with him in tow.

And so, from that day forth, Terbio was his name.

**-END**-

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**A/N: **I hope you enjoyed that! please give me reviews and tell me what you liked and so forth. I'm starved! ;3; thank you! anyway, this shot into my mind as I thought of a name for my PermaTKO. Every other TKO AU had names, so why not mine? and so, his name is Terbio now. :3


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